help - have the chance of an allotment and not a clue!

nodwah

Watch Beechgrove! - they're always a good few weeks behind GW!

In fact as Jim said in this weeks prog if there's a range of sowing dates on a packet of seeds, say March to May then March is for the South of England and May is for the North of Scotland.

You have plenty of time and if the plot is in a bad state they should give you a year's grace to clear it.

We got ours in May last year and we're still getting it into shape, though we grew a lot last year ( e.g. just picked the last of the leeks )

I have to say our is in better shape than many more long established plots sshhhh!

nodwah

skintbint wrote: »

they do not give ladies full plots as its too much work !!!!!

That is totally out of order and actually against equality laws! :eek:

what century are they from?

I wonder if that's why I got a half plot - I should have put DH's name on it.

LilacPixie

Hey SB, i have a lottie I aquired it last year so still very much a beginner. My advice would be clear an area and cover what you won't be using. when you say overgrown how over grown?? If its only a year of not being touched it should not be that bad TBH.

Anyway I am just sowing stuff now, toms were seeded only 10 days ago so your not actually that far behind. I haven't done anything about carrots or leeks yet, too early. Our last frost dates are 2/3 week in may. If you shop in Tesco and have clubcard vouchers you can cash some in for Thompson & Morgan stuff.

cubegame

Glyphosate is your friend. Get some strong stuff and go mad with it.

After a week or maybe two you should start clearing small areas.

[Deleted User]

we took on a virgin half allotment last august. It was weedy grass field and very very daunting. It was completely cleared and parts covered by october. It can be done. You will need to get covering first, I used rolls of costco weed fabric but use whatever you can. Then uncover a bit at a time and start clearing. Cover again and plant through the cover, strawberries, cabbages, strong looking things. That will stop that patch getting weedy again while you get on with some more. Clear some and put a thick layer of manure on top and leave it. Then another bit and cover again and plant veg like chard etc. Look around to see what other people are putting in. Clear around the greenhouse and put an old chair there, make it look lived in

Lotus-eater

skintbint wrote: »

with being so far north on the east coast we are normally a few weeks behind so hopefully wont hinder me to much, was thinking of putting an ad on freecycle to see if anybody has spare plants

Please listen to the others, you aren't behind at all.

There is only really tomatoes that you can't really sow now, or you could, but it would be better to get plants.
Most of my stuff has just been sowed and I haven't sown one bean yet.

Get down there and start planning, look busy and meet as many people as possible, it's very probable you will be offered plants.
If you don't/anyway, the first thing to do is to sit down and decide what to grow, then buy the seeds asap. Get hold of some modules from somewhere or use lots of yoghurt pots or something similar and get those seeds sown.
You can postpone digging for short while, but not the sowing.

If you do the lasagne gardening as other people are suggesting, then you can have sturdy little plants to put in the cut outs of cardboard.


If it's a used allotment, there may well be hidden gems waiting for you to find them. So be a little careful what you go digging up and ask the advice of the next door neighbours about what was what.

skintbint_2

hi thanks for all the advice! have got sis coming to help me on saturday just away up there now to take a few pictures and figure out where to start, will keep you posted! have got some seeds which i will plant this afternoon - nothing exciting just the usual.

was a bit surprised at their attitude will just have to stir them up a bit lol! he was an eldery gent - very proper indeed!

Lilac - would have used my tesco vouchers but just ordered DS a new fishing rod - the silly little bu**er dropped his in the harbour yesterday but payback is two days at the lottie! (still to figure out if it was on purpose as he had been asking for anew one)am down your way on Sunday for a craft fair in the old british legion stick your head in if your passing. Hope the little pixies are behaving and the littlie sleeping all night now

skint x

Lotus-eater

Just noticed you are in Scotland. Watch Beechgrove garden on BBC1 Scotland, Monday night, 7pm I think, or about then. They've only just put their potatoes in.
See if you can hold of some seed spuds also, if you pick the right pack they will probably be already chitted in the bag, but buy ones with small chits and not an overgrown mess.

kinkyjinks

I wouldn't grow all potatoes this year but that's only because I like to crop rotate and in my head I'd not be able to plant them for the next two years. I took over a plot this time last year and we managed to plant loads of stuff. Beetroot can get planted now, straight into the ground once it's cleared, same with parsnips and onions. We planted as we dug last year, made it much easier. We also covered up one part that we knew was going to be hard to clear. We uncovered it 2 weeks ago and I honestly can't believe how lovely the soil is underneath, well apart from one stony area at the side.

If you get your potatoes and onions in now(ish) then you have the rest of the April and May to dig some more ground and begin planting seeds, especially with a greenhouse. There are some cheap potatoes here from Thompson and Morgan, there's also a code for free delivery knocking about somewhere. If you like peas, get some of those started now. Runner beans (start in May) are really good for putting nutrients back into the soil. Like others have said, get yourself down there and meet some of the other plot holders. Find out if your committee sells trays of plug plants. Our committee sells onions, beetroot and cabbages all really well priced.

The only seeds I've got started just now are peas, artichokes oh and a few squash seeds as my OH was impatient to get them started and wouldn't believe me when I said it was too early still.

Beechgrove garden is perfect for Scottish gardeners. I live in England now but still like to watch it on Iplayer for nostalgia sake and I'm still shocked at the difference a couple of hundred miles makes to the planting times. Don't panic, you've aquired your lottie at the perfect time.

RAS

skintbint wrote: »

well its not been touched since last year so its overgrown and will take quite a bit of work to get into shape, (so do i so that wont help).........

the committee is quite strict and wants it tidied up as soon as possible - it is a half plot but still big - they do not give ladies full plots as its too much work !!!!

Most of this will be surface weed - if you need to "Impress the Committee" start by clearing the gross weeds off the surface. That make a visual difference and tidies up quickly.

The good news is that if it goes weeds, it will grow veggies.

Digging can wait until you are ready.

skintbint wrote: »

i can get hold of manure no problem =BIL is a livestock haulier so have it on tap if you like!

You need to decide where you need the muck before you go to far, not where you are planting carrots and other roots, for example.

Make sure he knows that there has been no use of herbicides on the ground - muck that contains some herbicides distorts growth and pretty much wrecks yield. The origin may be ground that the animals fed on, hay they ate or straw mixed in as bedding.

skintbint wrote: »

only thing i have ever grown before is lettuce, spring onions and tomatoes but even if i can get those on the go that would be fine...... would like to grow carrots, leeks, onions

Onions need to be your first planting then. There are still some sets in places like poundstretcher and the pound shops.

The size of the bulb is a function of the amount of green growth that you get by the June solstice. So the later after March equinox you wait, the smaller the yield.

You can get potatoes in those sort of shops as well. Or find a decent local grower (the best seed tats come from NE Scotland).

skintbint wrote: »

with being so far north on the east coast we are normally a few weeks behind so hopefully wont hinder me to much, was thinking of putting an ad on freecycle to see if anybody has spare plants

I have only really got going recently and am a bit south of you.